


Sand and Poison

by brejamison



Series: Dick Grayson Must Die [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Gen, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Poison, Whump, barely a plot, hurt rachel roth, just an excuse to hurt Dick, worried gar, worried koriand'r
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,871
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23125945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brejamison/pseuds/brejamison
Summary: In which a favor for the League goes horribly wrong and Dick and Rachel suffer the consequences.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Koriand'r & Garfield Logan & Raven, Dick Grayson/Koriand'r, Koriand’r & Garfield Logan
Series: Dick Grayson Must Die [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670542
Comments: 5
Kudos: 173





	Sand and Poison

Dick collapsed against the door, pounding on it. Kori rushed forward and swung it open. The room exploded in wind and sand as Dick shoved Rachel inside first, stumbling after her. Gar hurried to escort Rachel to a cot as Dick and Kory slammed the door shut behind them. The girl was hot and sweating and covered in sand, coughing loudly. Dick tripped inside and Kori guided him to collapse on a cot by the door. He landed on his stomach, hacking loudly with hair covering his eyes, sand streaking his face. 

"Jesus," Kory gasped, eyeing the knife embedded deeply into the back of his thigh. "Stay put. I-I'll go get the kit." She scurried off, leaving Dick quaking and coughing roughly. The sand blew against the walls, pounding like a pressure washer. It was only a matter of time before their impromptu abode fell. They just hoped it was after the storm passed. 

"Rache-" Dick rasped, the girl coughing loudly in response. Gar looked up from stroking her back.

"She's good. Well, better?" he guessed, eyeing Dick nervously. 

Dick nodded, eyes rolling back. He pressed his face into the stale mattress, wheezing as the fabric wiped the sweat from his brow. It was hot, so hot. Everything was blurred with heat distortions, poison racing through their already overheated systems. 

"I'm back," Kory announced, dropping the first aid kit next to him. He cracked an eye open, looking back at her. 

"N...knife..." 

"I see it. Gar." The boy plowed his way over, ready to help. "Hold it still," she instructed, tilting her head in the direction of the weapon. "Dick, we need to take your pants off." 

He closed his eyes tight against the world because of _course_ they did. Kory moved to his waist and he grunted, swallowing and rolling over to his hip. Gar hovered above the blade handle, ready to keep him from accidentally rolling onto it. Kory grabbed his belt and slipped it off, long fingers making quick work of his buckle. Even to the sun woman, his skin was scalding hot. 

"Hips," she commanded and a deep cough scratched its way through his throat in protest. Rachel hacked again and the room turned to her in worry. Kory recovered first. "Hips," she repeated sternly. Dick held a breath captive and grunted, managing to lift his hips enough to slip the pants down. Even that meager inch was enough to have him collapsing into the hard mattress, sweat pouring from him as his brain melted with fever and poison. He turned away to avoid coughing on them, Kory guiding him back to his stomach. 

Rache made a wheezing sound and Dick waved at her, mumbling at Gar to go check. The boy got confirmation from Kory before stepping around her and rushing to Rachel's side. She was burning up, hair and skin caked in dirt and sand.

"Gar..." she muttered throatily, hand finding the boy's arm. She squeezed and he wiped sweaty curls from her face. The pillow beneath her was already darkened with sweat, her face flushed with splotches of fever and sunburn.

"I'm here," he squeaked out. "What do you need?" 

Her eyes closed tightly and she gaped at the air around a word she couldn't say. 

"Antidote," Dick supplied. 

Gar looked back at him, nodding. "Antidote, on it. Water?" 

She nodded vigorously. Dick shook his head, eyes pressed shut against the spinning world. "N-no." 

Rachel moaned in protest, more coughs dragging their way through her. Tiny puddles of red formed at the corners of her mouth and Gar tried very hard to pretend those had always been there. 

"No water," Dick repeated. Gar swallowed nervously but nodded, understanding. 

Dick watched him rush off to get the syringes. Another round of coughing shook him, and he convulsed weakly. His head fell forward, cheek planting against the metal bed frame. It was so hot, even the metal burned. To him, though, it felt like bliss. Eyes slipped closed unconsciously, reveling in the relief. 

"Stay awake," Kory demanded, seeing the life drain from him with the fever and poison and sunstroke and whatever else was going on inside his body. She had a scalpel, tearing at the leg of his pants around the knife. The cold steel touched his skin and he flinched as it burned against him. "Sorry," she apologized quickly. She wrapped a palm around the small blade, warming it. 

Gar came back with a syringe, offering it to Dick. The former Robin shook his head, blinking lazily, and waved sloppily to Rachel. Her first. Gar understood and sat at the girl's side, finding her arm. The needle went in easily in his skilled hands and immediately she started to relax as the drug took effect. Stupid lab. Stupid trigger happy bad guys with their toxins and sprays and deadly chemicals. Gar set the needle aside and checked her pulse. It was strong and steady, but she was still wracked with fever. He sighed, deflating as her clear eyes fluttered closed. 

"She's good," he informed Dick, who sighed tiredly. Then Kory's long fingers ever so delicately touched the handle of the blade in his leg and a scream whistled out through his clenched teeth. 

"This has to be removed," she sighed because _no one_ was about to enjoy this. "Gar, come hold it." The boy rounded to Dick's feet and hovered. 

"What're you going to do?" he frowned as she repositioned herself by Dick's shoulders. 

"Hold him down." 

"Shit." 

She squatted to force herself into Dick's untrustworthy field of view. "We're going to take it out," she said and he managed to focus on her long enough to nod, hacking softly. A string of goopy blood swung from his mouth. Worried, she wiped it away with her thumb and spared a moment to slip her hand under his bangs, making a face at how hot he was. Even to her, it felt like he was on fire. 

"What's the normal human body temperature?" she wondered absently. 

Gar shrugged. "Uh, about 98.6?" 

"...run low..." Dick added quietly. 

Kory nodded, shoving his hair aside and checking again. "He's way too hot." 

"How much?" 

"Can't tell for sure. Feels like 104?" 

" _Shit_..." Gar gasped, eyes growing wide in concern. "That's, like, dangerously hot. Like _he should be in a hospital before his brain starts leaking out of his ears_ hot." 

She swallowed, only slightly relieved to know what they were up against. Sizing down the opponent was the first step of defeating them. Still, she needed to center herself and focus on one thing at a time. His fever was deeply troubling, and a major factor of it was the poison he (and Rachel) had in their systems. They could cure it with Bruce's antidote, but not until the knife was removed. Once the medicine was administered, it was crucial that the subject (her friend) remain as undisturbed as possible. "Okay. Dick, we're going to take the knife out." 

Getting the nod from her, Gar raised his hands, gripping the handle carefully but tightly. 

Dick's eyes rolled up to her, wide as pale moons. "''t's cu'ved...!" he slurred. 

"What?" Kory asked, leaning close. 

"'t's n't straight..." 

"Gar, wait!" she yelled, but Gar heard his name and yanked, tearing through an inch of skin before the resistance forced the blade to a halt. 

Dick screamed quietly, curling into the mattress. His hands gripped the bedframe hard enough to shake the entire structure. 

Instantly Gar knew something was wrong and dropped the knife, hands raised. It shook and settled, stealing Dick's breathe. 

"Dick! Dick, breathe," Kory instructed, hand squeezing his shoulder tight enough to bruise. He staggered, clamping down on his lip as the pain surged through him. "Breathe," she demanded again and he let out a shuddering breath, every muscle tense. She looked up to Gar, a disapprovingly glare surrounding her green eyes. 

The boy shrunk away, shocked and ashamed. "I, I didn't hear..."

"S'okay," Dick gasped, shaking his head minutely. "Jus'... be careful..." 

"Okay..." The boy swallowed thickly, fingers curling around the blade again. "It's curved... apparently. Good to know.

"Up..." Dick wheezed. 

The chuckle that came out of the boy was borderline hysteric. "Oh, so it's curved up. Right. Of course it is."

Kori was watching him, her gaze reassuring in its steadiness. She gave him the signal and he leaned the handle forward, guiding the blade out of the wound. The tip caught on some flesh inside and he was forced to give it a harsh yank to get it out the rest of the way. 

The group took a collective sigh once it was free. Dick deflated like a balloon, wheezing and coughing weakly. 

"Almost done, Dick," Kory warned and he rolled his head in the mattress, too far gone to nod properly. "Gar, get another needle." 

"On it." The knife clattered from his shaking hands and Dick flinched nearly to the other side of the room. Kory was on him immediately, calming him back down. A moment later, a syringe was shoved toward her and she scooted to the side, giving Gar access to Dick's arm. She stroked the former Robin's face, taking in his flushed cheeks and fluttering eyelids as the antidote was administered. He wheezed, her palm catching one last weak cough. 

Gar moved away and she looked up. "Is it done?" 

"Yeah," he replied quietly, eyes downcast. "He should start feeling better any minute now." 

She turned to Dick to check, who was nodding sloppily. "Gar..." he croaked, the boy kneeling by his head. Dick's arm twitched and Gar took the hand, holding it firmly. "You... you did well..." And with that he was out, going so still the Titans almost panicked thinking they had killed him. 

Gar sniffed, swiping a hand across his face. He blinked and looked away, chewing on his lips. Kory chuckled lovingly at him, rubbing his back. "He's proud of you," she said. "Here, you go check on Rachel." 

"No! No, his leg, it still needs to be-" 

"I can wrap it." 

He shook his head at her. "It needs to be cleaned and stitched. I can do it. I know how." 

Smiling fondly, she motioned forward. "Alright, then. Go ahead." 

The boy stood quickly, snatching what he needed from the first aid kit. Kory sighed, checking Dick's temperature again. "How do we lower this?" 

"His temp?" 

"Yeah. It's still too hot." 

"Normally, acetaminophen would cut it. But I don't know how it will react to the antidote in his system." 

She quirked an eyebrow. "So what do we do abnormally?" 

"Cold compress?" he shrugged, threading the stitching needle. 

She chewed his lips, looking down at Dick scoldingly. "In the middle of a sandstorm. Right." 

"Well, I would say Rachel could help but..." 

She sighed, inspecting their makeshift safehouse for anything that could be helpful as Gar set the needle aside and got to work cleaning the wound. "How is it?" she asked, jutting her chin that direction. 

"Gnarly. And not in the good way," he replied tightly, squinting as he inspected the damage. "He definitely shouldn't have walked all the way here." 

"Right. You wake him up and tell him that." 

"Hell no." 


End file.
